Folk Fest Fever

As one of Virginia’s most beloved outdoor spectacles, the Richmond Folk Festival draws up to 200,000 visitors from all over the country to the city’s historic riverfront. The three-day event, Oct. 12-14, features more than 40 artists on seven stages representing a wide variety of cultural traditions. This year, headliners include soul singer Mavis Staples, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who wrote music history in the 1960s with her family’s group the Staple Singers. “Mavis is an artist we have longed to have at the festival, bringing with her a rich history of R&B and gospel that everyone is sure to enjoy,” says festival manager Stephen Lecky. Other highlights include Puerto Rico’s salsa-firebrand Orquesta el Macabeo, Irish folk singer Jarlath Henderson and Laotian-born Bounxeung Synanonh. RichmondFolkFestival.org